DURHAM— An emergency meeting is scheduled for town councilors Monday morning to discuss and act on what steps to take regarding costs related to additional public safety requirements for the President's visit Monday afternoon.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Oyster River High School for a free to the public event that would cost an estimated $20,000 to $30,000 in fire and police public safety services required by the Secret Service.

Historically, the town absorbs costs of a presidential visit, however, being that this is a campaign stop, the town has reached out to the Obama for America campaign to seek reimbursement for the expense. In an email sent to council members by Town Administrator Todd Selig, the intent of the meeting is "to discuss the matter as a Council in public in full and whether the Council desires to take the symbolic action of disinviting the President from visiting Durham. Our sincere hope is that this meeting will not be necessary and that the campaign will agree to reimburse the town's projected public safety costs associated with the event."

Selig told Foster's on Saturday that there is no with to disinvite the president to the town.

Council member Julian Smith said he was confused then as to why this meeting will even be necessary, especially since the town was not the entity to invite the president in the first place and therefore can do no such "disinviting."

While Smith said Selig may have a responsibility to pursue this as a long-term issue, he saw no need as far as Monday's visit is concerned and said the situation was now like a "tempest in a teapot."

"The administration is trying to make it an issue and I don't know what the bottom line is in terms of when a sitting president is on the campaign trail whether his campaign should pay for certain public costs or not," he said.

He added that he does not think the town administrator is grandstanding, but that these actions will likely be perceived that way.

State Senator Amanda Merrill issued a response to the issue calling the visit an honor for the town and said that she is thrilled to have such an opportunity in her hometown of Durham.

"First, I am confident that the Obama for America campaign will follow all laws regarding campaign visits. Second, I am hopeful that the dedicated people who serve the Town of Durham would stand ready to participate in what I would consider to be the more appropriate context of a comprehensive, nonpartisan discussion of these complex issues should the occasion arise," the statement reads.

Rochester Mayor T.J. Jean also responded with his thoughts on the importance of a presidential visit to a local community and stated that the City of Rochester would have been delighted to host the President during his visit to Strafford County.

"While I remain cognizant of the additional security and public safety costs inherent with such an event, I truly believe the opportunity for our citizens to experience a Presidential Visit outweigh the cost," his statement read.

In response, the Obama campaign issued their own statement, "As a private organization, Obama for America does not participate in security planning. All such decisions, including their impact on costs incurred by federal, state or local governments, are exclusively within the control of the appropriate government officials. Should there be a question about expenses among the cooperating authorities, we assume that it should be directed to the U.S. Secret Service."